Art of Arabia I Lattafa Pride

Hello, I own an original sample of Imagination, a decant of Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes Eau de Parfum, and a decant of "Art of Arabia I | Lattafa / لطافة". Let the games begin.

I would rather not copy-paste the same text for all three fragrances, but I had the highest hopes for this one, so here comes the "long version" so you have another, different opinion that may confuse you. :P

Imagination
Unfortunately, the original remains unbeaten; none of these two dupes surpass it in terms of scent or bottle, only the price/performance ratio seems to win for both. LV is expensive, though...
For me, this fragrance is quite linear and surprisingly long-lasting for a fresh scent. During one test, I sprayed it on in the evening and still smelled it on my arm the next day at work. Not in the air, but still quite noticeable on my arm. I don’t think I need to describe it much. The differences between the two dupes are more relevant. But I still want to and will keep it as short as possible. x)
Imagination is a strikingly interesting freshie; it is fresh, aquatic, but has its own spiciness that I don’t know from any other freshie. It is absolutely not comparable to a typical designer blue fragrance; there is nothing blue, shower gel-like, or classically masculine about it. This is a beautiful, pure, clean water with a few fine, high-quality ingredients in it. A few herbs, a few subtle summer fruits. Comparatively, it somehow reminds me of something like Sprite; it has a delicious, refreshing citrus note, is very fresh, slightly herbal and minty. For me, it also somewhat goes in the direction of the Acqua di Giò pour Homme Eau de Toilette line. There are enough descriptions of the scent; it is truly beautiful, it fits!

"Art of Arabia I | Lattafa / لطافة"
I don’t own the bottle, but the pictures are enough for an impression. It’s okay; I would prefer it if the lower part of the tower didn’t stand out so much, but visually it’s still acceptable. I find the cap just terrible; I prefer the classic design from Zara or the very cool design from LV. Here, the closure looks like a car key if you squint a bit. A terribly unsatisfying drop up there. But in the end, the bottle doesn’t matter; due to the price of the original, the scent just has to be right. Does it?
When the decant arrived and I smelled between the cap and the spray head, I was overjoyed that I liked this scent so much and that it was personally close enough to the original. The first sprays on my arm and the scent in the air confirmed it. Such a delicious, fruity water. Not very sweet-fruity; this one isn’t really very sweet. But fresh-fruity, at the level of a Volvic iced tea water? Do you know that? Ginger, citrus, tea, a bit of mint. That’s what I smell the most. Tasty, refreshing, really good and a bit stronger in the ginger/citrus area than the original, I would say. Here, the slightly herbal note from LV is missing for me. And the citrus from LV smelled of higher quality, as if there were high-quality citrus in LV and here they cheated with syrup. That makes it a bit sweeter and fruitier here. This whole thing stayed like that for 30 minutes to an hour, then the slightly sweet, fruity note disappeared and a more serious citrus note remained. Boring, less playful, less fun, yet still absolutely fine and good-smelling. You can’t go wrong with it. But it is already getting weaker. After waiting a bit longer, I unfortunately smell notes in the drydown that I can’t find listed or described anywhere. Is it just me?
Between the remnants of the citrus, I smell, not in the air, when I sniff my arm, oriental notes. Something in the direction of rose-oud but very light? Something from Arabians Tonka (I absolutely do not like it) immediately popped into my head. No one will smell that in the air; it really only came very close to my nose, but I don’t like this direction of oriental fragrances at all. So rose-oud, that always smells musty and stinky to my nose. Is that due to the manufacturer? The longevity of Art of Arabia I is not very long; I would attribute the lowest longevity to this one among all three fragrances. Combined with the strange intermediate notes in the drydown, it unfortunately does not make it a worthy alternative for me. As a fun intermediate scent in the collection, especially for the top note, it has its merits. Price-wise, I would wait for now; due to the hype, it has unfortunately shot up too high. It’s not worth it to me. ^^

Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes Eau de Parfum
Honestly, I find the bottle pleasant, simple, thus not intrusive, quite nice. The cap is unnecessarily cheap, but the price here is also very low. The design is normal; it’s just very basic. This bottle is much more accessible than the AoA. How is the scent?
For me, it is again more linear; at least it doesn’t take a negative turn like the AoA I. But this one also has its own twist. You can clearly recognize the Imagination, but there is some note that is so strong that it stands out and somewhat covers the rest of the nicer DNA. Is it the tea? Something spicy, synthetically slightly sweet. This one is also a bit fruitier, slightly sweeter, and more playful than the original, yet still nice enough. The rest of the DNA goes in the direction of AoA top note or Imagination in general; here, it’s really just this one strong note that stands out and unfortunately seems a bit overpowering. Over time and towards the end, it doesn’t change much for me; it just becomes weaker, less playful, fruity, sweet, and rather serious, normally citrusy, slightly spicy. The longevity doesn’t match the original; it’s probably only a few hours here. But it lasts longer for me than the AoA. At least more Imagination DNA; with the AoA, only the bothersome remains if I find anything at the end.

So, the Art of Arabia I is the hated, evil stepbrother inside, but at least he smiles nicely.
The Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes is the neutral cousin, thus not directly the brother. You can relate less to him, but you can have a conversation; he doesn’t annoy.
And the Imagination is the beloved, perfect child. Only there’s no child benefit for this one, and children can really be expensive...
You can’t go wrong with any of them; with one, you’re just doing a bit more right than with the other. If you don’t smell the drydown of the AoA like I do, go for it. But it will likely be unnecessarily more expensive and harder to access than the Zara, so always test it beforehand. The original is clearly the best; it doesn’t bother anywhere, smells the best, and the bottle is the best.
Considering the entire scent progression and the price, I will probably buy a bottle from Zara; the AoA is currently overpriced, significantly harder to access, and I don’t like its drydown. I will then buy the Imagination as a personal reward for some milestone in my future. :)